The invention relates to dyed flock-coated fabrics and to methods of making the same.
So far as I am aware, the dyeing of flock-coated fabric has to date involved one of several processes, each of which has its difficulties and limitations which impair product quality, or which involve undue product waste, or which do not lend themselves to as wide a variety of different ultimate finishes, textures and colors as might be desired.
According to one of these processes, the manufacturer of the flock-coated substrate fabric must tailor his production lot to what can be accommodated in a piece-dyeing operation, usually a service performed other than by the flock-coating house. The process involves scouring and rinsing the goods, bringing the goods to temperature in a dye bath, then introducing the dyes for a time and at a temperature appropriate to the class of dyes and goods involved. The dye bath temperatures are generally in the range 140 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. This technique has disadvantages which include wastage of product at ends of the piece, great difficulty of making uniform color in the finished product, from one to the next piece, and the economies of continuous-run production are simply not available.
According to another process, a transfer-printing dye is applied to so-called greige goods, i.e., to undyed flock-coated substrate fabric. A dye-bearing transfer paper is faced against the greige goods in oriented lay-down of the flock, and oil-heated steel rolls apply contact heat and pressure by squeezing the paper to the fabric, the steel rolls being at at least 400.degree. F., and the heat and pressure being applied for at least 30 seconds. Although the process is notas batch-limited as the piece-dyeing process, it is nevertheless relatively expensive due to paper waste and handling, and product texture and quality suffer from the application of heat and pressure to layed-down flock. The process is also inherently incapable of dyeing the substrate because the substrate materials are incapable of withstanding the greater temperatures and/or times needed to assure sufficient dye penetration via the flock.